Airbus is *leading* in widebody sales (63 versus 52), with overall sales trailing less than 60 aircraft behind Boeing and then..there's that huge British airshow is just around the corner. (Grin)

Regards
MAC

From Yahoo:

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/000705/n05327012.html

Airbus says booked 49 jet orders in June

By Chris Stetkiewicz

(recasts, adds detail, analysis)

SEATTLE, July 5 (Reuters) - Airbus Industrie [ARBU.UL] said on Wednesday it booked 49 firm orders for new passenger jets in June, boosting its total for the first half of 2000 to 239, below rival Boeing Co.'s (NYSE:BA - news) unofficial count of 295.

The European consortium said Trans World Airlines Inc. (AMEX:TWA - news) had ordered 20 narrow body A319s in June and also announced 20 jet orders from unnamed buyers, including 5 wide body A340s.

The remaining 9 orders came from British Midland [BMID.CN] for 2 narrow body A320s and 2 wide body A330s, Korean Air Lines Co. for 3 A330s and
International Lease Finance Corp. for 2 A319s.

Boeing lists 6 cancellations on its Web site, trimming its totals to 289 net orders. The Seattle-based aerospace group will report official first half totals on Thursday, but industry sources said the current numbers would likely stand.

Airbus, whose parent company European Aeronautics Defence and Space Co. (EADS) plans to go public on July 10, was on almost the exact pace as in 1999,
when it convincingly outsold Boeing 476 jets to 391.

Both manufacturers played down market share comparisons, saying they were pleased with their performance.

``This business is based in trends of years, not months. We're very happy with where we stand,'' said Mary Anne Greczyn, a spokeswoman for Airbus, which has
set a long-term goal of matching Boeing's market share.

Boeing shares closed 1-1/8 higher at 42-15/16 in trade on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday.

Wall Street analysts said the mid-year order totals showed surprisingly solid airline demand for new jets, a positive sign for both manufacturers -- the Western world's last remaining producers of big passenger aircraft.

``Regardless of who's actually getting the orders, it's clear there is a lot of interest and demand for the additional airplanes, which indicates that the cycle is perhaps more positive than some would believe,'' said Sam Pearlstein, an analyst at First Union Securities.

SG Cowen analyst Cai von Rumohr, who had already boosted his forecast for combined 2000 orders to 700-800 from 600-650, said the 534 first half orders
justified even more optimism.

``It's a very solid environment and better than expected,'' von Rumohr said. ``Frankly, both these guys would have to slow down an awful lot to reach the new estimate.''

But von Rumohr noted that many of the 2000 orders had been for cheaper single-aisle jets, meaning revenues might not pile up quite so dramatically.

Narrow body list prices range from about $30 million apiece to $80 million, before standard discounts of 25 percent or more. Wide bodies retail at $100 million to $200 million.

Of Airbus's 239 sales, only 63 were for wide bodies. At Boeing, which last week unveiled a blockbuster order for 94 single-aisle 737s from Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - news), the 295 orders included just 52 wide bodies.

But that trend may reverse in the years ahead, von Rumohr said, citing an economic rebound from a late 1990s slump in Asia, where carriers need wide body aircraft for long-haul flights over the Pacific Ocean.

New longer-range models of the A340 and Boeing's 777 should spur wide body sales growth, he added.

``Twin-aisle planes will eventually move up and that's where the profits are,'' von Rumohr said. ``The 747 is below a normalised (orders) rate and you'll see the 777 and bigger product for both (manufacturers) tend to move up.''

Is the A319 order a new one, or is it part of an early order by TWA that has been finalized now? As for Airbus leading the widebody sales, sure can't wait for those 777X orders at Farnborough. A certain company in Seattle will be confortalby in the lead

"History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or timid." D. Eisenhower

TWA has a fleet of 103 MD80s and will continue to grow that as the AS aircraft come over to TWA.

The A318 and A319 are for growth and retirement of some of the older MD80s (approx 20 aircraft). The MD80s are great for STL flights but nonstops from JFK on long thin routes and markets like SJU-LAX would be better suited to the A318/A319 then the 757-200 until traffic builds up!

Actually I'm expecting a rather large MAS order for Airbus at Farnborough. 40+ A32X plus ar4ound 20-30 option, 18-20 A340NG with potentially 5-10 option. A refit deal for the current MAS A330-300 fleet that changes cabin interior. I also see them looking at the A3XX as a future 747 replacement. I think the MAS order could be possibly the biggest prize for Airbus to grab along with its imminent A3XX launch.

-DragonAir is pretty much spoken for as they did their orders earlier this year (nice carrier I might add..flown on them a few times) They rather like the A330 and I believe they will stick with that as their standard bearer for their widebody fleet.

-Volare..well..a charter carrier for sure but not as big as DragonAir I think (G)

-I see The A3XX potentially being a huge player at FIA, with a possible joint launch by Virgin/SIA, Air France.ILFC, ATLAS, FedEx, Qantas (quite possible)

-The Northwest DC-10 replacement order may be announced

There are a lot of order announcements that could be made at this show though, too many to really detail all at once. I think this year overall is going to be a closer competition than last.

As of now, who is NWA's replacement likely to be ordered from? I don't mean to start an entire repeat discussion on this issue, but I am just curious about whether they're going for Airbus or Boeing on this one.